1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to holders for immobilizing a flexible tubing at a site adjacent its point of connection to a medical device inserted in a patient to feed a therapeutic fluid into a vein or artery or to withdraw fluid from the patient, and more particularly to a detachable holder of this type which can be easily secured to the body of the patient at a desired site and readily detached therefrom.
2. State-of-the-Art
In an intravenous infusion (IV) system for plasma, glucose water or other therapeutic agents, a cannula or catheter is injected into a vein or artery of the patient and is coupled by an extended flexible plastic tubing to the fluid source. In extracting fluid from a patient, a similar tubing is extended between a medical device inserted in the patient through a nostril or other body cavity and a fluid receiver.
In all such situations, it is vital that the tubing adjacent to its point of coupling to the catheter or other medical device be immobilized in some way. In the absence of an immobilizer, a substantial tug on the tubing, which may occur inadvertently or when the patient changes his position, will displace or dislodge the catheter and may cause the catheter to cut the vein wall or to pull out of the vein, thereby causing the infusion to infiltrate the region surrounding the vein and resulting in a loss of intravenous therapy. This mishap necessitates restarting infusion therapy which is both inconvenient and possibly painful to the patient.
In order to effect immobilization of the tubing, the usual hospital practice is to improvise an immobilizer by means of strips of conventional adhesive tape. These strips are placed over the tubing and adhered to the skin of the patient at a position adjacent the point of infusion or insertion.
The security of a jury rig immobilizer of this type depends on the care exercised by the nurse or doctor who applies the tape; and should the tapes be hastily or carelessly applied, the immobilizer may be ineffective for its intended purpose.
It is important to bear in mind that the ability of the immobilizer to stabilize the tubing does not depend on the ability of the tape to adhere to the skin of the patient. Modern pressure-sensitive tapes of good quality, when applied to a skin surface, afford strong adherence thereto, particularly since the entire underface of the tape engages a corresponding skin surface. But when adhesive tape is applied over a flexible tubing having a small diameter, the region of adhesive contact between the tubing and the tape is quite limited, and the bond therebetween is not difficult to disrupt.
It is for this reason that various holders have heretofore been proposed to retain an infusion tube securely in place. Thus U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,380 to Boyd discloses a holder for IV tubing in the form of a longitudinally-split tubular clamp adapted to receive a section of the IV tubing. The clamp, which is formed of plastic, has an adhesive backing, making it possible to anchor the clamp on the skin of a patient. Various other devices for holding a catheter or an infusion tube in place are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,324,858; 3,630,195; 3,782,378 and 4,129,128.
In holders of the prior art type, the holder is directly adhered to a body site, and once so adhered, its orientation cannot be altered as may be necessary to properly position the holder relative to the point of body entry. Another drawback of such holders is that because they clamp onto the flexible tubing, they may occlude the fluid passage.